App Limits not working on iPhone: why Ignore Limit still shows, and 8 checks that fix it

By Abel Sánchez, Founder of Plan7 · October 28, 2026 · 7 min read

Apple's own guide says that **by default, Screen Time limits can be ignored once reached**, which is why the limit screen shows **Ignore Limit**. To make a limit stick, set a Screen Time passcode, then turn on **Block at End of Limit** for that limit. If apps still open after that, check Always Allowed, the iOS version and the iOS 26 fixes below.

Ignore Limit is the default

The iPhone User Guide puts it plainly: "By default, Screen Time limits can be ignored once reached." A new limit only warns you. Tap Ignore Limit and the app keeps working, so a limit you set for yourself without any other changes will feel broken on day one.

The switch that changes this is called Block at End of Limit. Apple's iPhone guide doesn't name it, but the Mac guide describes the same option: select it "if you want to block the app when the limit expires". On iPhone it only appears once a Screen Time passcode exists (iDownloadBlog).

Which iOS are you on?

Check Settings → General → About. On iOS 26 and earlier the feature is App Limits. iOS 27 replaced it with Time Allowances, and Apple notes these need iOS 27 on all your Apple devices. If you updated and the App Limits menu is gone, that's the reason.

8 checks when an App Limit lets the app open (iOS 26 and earlier)

1. Block at End of Limit is off. Go to Settings → Screen Time → App Limits, tap the limit and turn on Block at End of Limit. Do this for every limit; it's a per-limit switch.
2. There's no Screen Time passcode. Without one, the switch above doesn't appear. Set it in Settings → Screen Time → Lock Screen Time Settings. If you set limits for yourself, a code someone else picks is harder to get around.
3. The app is in Always Allowed. Apple's guide says those apps "stay available during downtime and after you reach time limits." Remove it from Settings → Screen Time → Always Allowed.
4. Several apps share one limit. If you pick more than one app or category in a limit, Apple says "the time limit you set applies to all of them." That's why an app you barely opened can lock early. Split it into separate limits if you want separate budgets.
5. You're using the website. A limit on an app doesn't necessarily cover the same service in Safari. When you edit the limit, add the site under Websites as well.
6. Today has a different limit. If you used Customize Days, the limit for Saturday can be longer than Monday's. Open the limit and check today's time.
7. App & Website Activity is off. Apple's guide says turning it off "turns off reporting, Downtime, App Limits, and Always Allowed." Make sure it's on.
8. Another device is changing the settings. With Share Across Devices on, limits set on your iPad or Mac apply to the iPhone too (Apple). Edit limits on one device, or turn sharing off while you test.

The iOS 26 bug: limits that never block

Some people on iOS 26 have every setting right and the app still isn't blocked after the time runs out. iDownloadBlog reported it in March 2026 and mentions no fix from Apple beyond waiting for a software update. Try these in order, testing after each one:

1. Update to the latest iOS 26 release in Settings → General → Software Update, then restart.
2. Delete the limit, restart the iPhone, and create it again.
3. Turn the Screen Time passcode off, restart, and set it again. Then check Block at End of Limit, because it can be off on the recreated limit.
4. Turn App & Website Activity off and back on.
5. As a last step, Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone → Reset → Reset All Settings. It keeps your apps and data, but you will have to set up things like Wi-Fi again.

If it keeps happening on the current release, report it to Apple Support.

Symptom by symptom

A shared limit, hour by hour

Here's one limit of 45 minutes covering Instagram, TikTok and Reddit. The minutes add up across all three apps.

At 21:05 Reddit is locked after 10 minutes of use, because the 45 minutes belong to the limit as a whole. The same table shows the other gap: the 45 minutes were spent at breakfast, lunch and after work. An App Limit caps the total and has no say over when it gets spent.

Time Allowances on iOS 27

1. Go to Settings → Screen Time → Time Allowances.
2. Set the daily total with the slider, then tap a category such as Social Media or Games and set its own allowance.
3. Tap Manage Categories to add a category or see your average daily use of each app in it.
4. Turn on Match Screen Time Schedule if you want allowances to follow the time windows of your Screen Time Schedule.
5. Set a passcode in Manage Screen Time → Lock Screen Time Settings, so changing an allowance takes more than one tap.

Apple's guide adds that "if an app has an associated website it declares, the Time Allowance applies to both." Apps still stop at whichever comes first: the category's allowance or the daily total.

When the limit works but the hours are wrong

If your real problem is opening Instagram during the hour you set aside for work or study, a daily budget won't help much: you can spend all of it in that hour. Blocking by time does that job. Downtime handles one fixed schedule; the guide to blocking apps during focus time compares the options for weeks that change.

Questions people ask

Keep reading

• Screen Time Downtime not working on iPhone: 7 checks, and where Downtime went in iOS 27
• How to block apps during focus time on iPhone: built-in options vs a time-blocking app
• Features